262 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK III. 



SECTION XL 



EXECUTION OF PUBLIC WORKS. 



OUR attention has been particularly called to the fiscal 

 powers at present possessed by grand juries. They have 

 been much objected to, and it appears to us that local 

 public works under their control have not contributed to 

 the employment of the poor as much as they might be 

 made to do, and that by a better arrangement profitable la- 

 bour could be found for many of the unemployed at those 

 periods of the year when there is the greatest destitution. 

 Recent alterations have improved the system, but we are 

 of opinion that a still further separation of the fiscal from 

 the criminal business would be advantageous, and that 

 much of the former should be transferred to County Boards, 

 the members of which should be chosen by those whom 

 they shall be authorized to tax. 



We therefore recommend that a Fiscal Board shall be 

 established in every county ; that a certain portion of it 

 shall be chosen by the resident magistrates having a cer- 

 tain qualification each, and another portion by the resident 

 landowners paying cess to a certain amount; that the 

 members of the Board shall have a qualification in land, 

 and shall also be resident within the county, and that the 

 number of the Board shall not exceed thirty-one. We re- 

 commend that each county be divided into as many di- 

 stricts as there are quarter sessions' towns therein, and that 

 a certain number of the Board be chosen from each district ; 

 that the voting shall be in writing, according to a form to 

 be given for that purpose ; that voting-papers, with proper 



